Have you ever wondered what would happen if you wanted to transfer your unwanted travel plans?

When booking a holiday we don’t anticipate ever looking to cancel the trip or not being able to commit. Most of us aim to get the best deals and skim briefly over the T&C’s, before eagerly purchasing the plans we then countdown to.

When life happens, we all know that there are unfortunate circumstances that we can never predict and our plans sometimes have to be put on hold.

Only then do the questions arise;

Can I change the details on my ticket to another passenger?

Can my friend use my hotel room instead?

Can I transfer my travel bookings?

Airlines cannot expect ill passengers to board a flight, making every other passenger ill just to avoid losing out on the money they paid for the ticket.

You see, the non-refundable tickets are actually much cheaper than the changeable ones, however, not many people are going to spend 3x more for a changeable ticket that they never expect to cancel.

In 2012, the BBC reported that £10 billion is “wasted” every year on the unused and pre-paid hotel rooms and a further £7 billion on unused seats on flights.

You would think that all this wasted travel is due to security measures or maybe enable companies to account for each individual customer. It’s hard to believe that the reason is regarding cost. Airlines can sometimes take away the option to transfer due to the fact that passengers then have the option to resell their tickets at any time. This option subverts the airlines ability to raise ticket prices, this also occurs within other sectors of the travel industry.

Most airlines, however, allow you to change the name on your bookings for a fee of approx £40/£50 (on average) and even more hotel companies allow you to transfer for free! This is great for people wanting to book their travel at a discounted price plus helps the person who is selling the Travel!

Did you know that in the UK there is a “Travel Package regulation (10) Issued by the Uk Government for the Travel industry which states:

“Transfer of bookings

10.—(1) In every contract there is an implied term that where the consumer is prevented from proceeding with the package the consumer may transfer his booking to a person who satisfies all the conditions applicable to the package, provided that the consumer gives reasonable notice to the other party to the contract of his intention to transfer before the date when departure is due to take place.

(2) Where a transfer is made in accordance with the implied term set out in paragraph (1) above, the transferor and the transferee shall be jointly and severally liable to the other party to the contract for payment of the price of the package (or, if part of the price has been paid, for payment of the balance) and for any additional costs arising from such transfer.”

Remember you have your rights as a customer, you can check with your provider to see what you are liable for when you cannot commit to your travel plans.

It’s time for the industry to freely allow each customer of travel the right to be able to change the passenger names on all pre booked tickets, whether that be flights, hotels, Holidays etc.

By transferring names on bookings, we aren’t taking away any business from these travel companies, instead we are actually confirming that we want to use their service and essentially refer our family/friends to our preferred travel providers. Maintaining customer loyalty and promoting their business to others.

For every negative circumstance can always be looked at with a positive outlook. For anyone who is now unable to commit to their bookings, there will be a person eager to purchase a last minute deal.